Satellite dish disaster!

This is a common problem with homes that have satellite TV service.  Typically, the dish is installed on the roof and not ancored to the rafters beneath the roof sheeting, therefor, what you have is essencially a kite or sail that catches every little gust of wind and flexes the roofing matterial with great force and eventually loosens its seal.  Once water begins to infiltrate the roofing matterial it is all over in short time.  I have run into this problem repeatedly and always recommend you have your satellite service provider undermount the dish below the eaves of the home, anchored to a stud in the wall  and if that isn't possible then have it mounted to a post in the yard.  You can file a claim against the provider but it may be difficult to get them to cover down on the repair costs and it is always easier to avoid them in the first place.  Take a look. 

In this case the customer had multiple dishes.... some had been removed or relocated and the old bases left in place... so there was 4 different areas affecting the structural integrity of the roof and it showed.  I did end up removing the 2 un-used baseplates but remounting the 2 dishes to the same locations, however, I took steps to help ensure they would not cause the same problem.  I used a large piece of 2"x10" pressure treated lumber under the roof sheeting to distribute the wind load accross the sheeting and to give the lag screws that hold the dish plate in place something to hold on to other than the 1/2" thick plywood sheeting.  I double sealed everything above the roof with copuis amounts of roofing tar and below with caulk and paint to ensure the repair would last a long time.    See here.

 

Above:  You can see 2 of the base plates sitting on the corner of the roofline and the sag in the sheeting around them. 

Below:  You can see under the eaves in that same location the damage caused to the sheeting.  I'm still not sure what was holding that floodlight there because the material was so rotted I could put my hand right through it.

 

 

Above:  you can see the other two base plates.  They were  agood distance apart.

Below:  The next 5 photos show the totality of the damage in the soffit of the eaves.

 

FINALLY!  The finished product!